Picture Above:
A somewhat blurry picture as my work camera does not do photos in the dark very well, (but another reporter from another media source took some of me and promised me some pics which I may replace this one with). The white stuff on my dark blue sleeping bag is frozen ice. My head is to the right by the green bag. You can just see one eyebrow and an eye. Sometime in the night, my mill wrap came off from over me and the cold drained my camera batteries. 

I woke with my hair frozen to the sleeping bag I was laying in, I watched people milling about in the morning fog talking about how cold they had gotten as the twenty-four of us had just slept in the outdoors overnight. The overnight lows had gotten down to -6C. 

In reality, I probably slept the best I had in at least 6 weeks and I slept about 12 hours although I did wake up periodically. There was nothing to do, but sleep so I took the opportunity. I did stay warmer than others as I am used to winter camping and I had my -30C sleeping bag, although I slept on cardboard for insulation and under lumber wrap as the weather report called for possible rain. The people who got coldest slept in tents, but they did not know how to dress for the weather. I figure that the homeless do not have tents, so I left it behind, but I was not dumb enough to not use my sleeping bags after having hypothermia last January. 

 

The event, "Night in the Cold", was to bring awareness to those who are homeless. I now have a different perspective about the homeless than I did previously.

 

Most people think that the homeless are those who choose to be on the streets due to their own stupidity, because they are drug addicts or have severe mental issues which have not been taken care of.

 

There are many reasons why people are homeless and most of these people are hidden. You never see them as homeless even though they are. And if you do see them, you would never suspect they are one of the many homeless statistics.

 

I met three of our local homeless Thursday night. Two of them I was very surprised they were among the statistics. One man came up here from Vancouver for divorce proceedings, had lost his job, used the last of his money to get up here via bus and cannot get back. And even if he did, he would have nowhere to live. He works part time doing plumbing here, but does not make enough to do anything but live on the street or in the shelter.  

 

All three men had been in the armed forces they told me, at least two had seen action. Lots of it. One in Vietnam and one in Bosnia. One has a hard time being indoors as with his asthma, he cannot be near carpets as they trigger his attacks and it is very difficult to find an apartment or a homeless shelter without carpets. 

Another man, who has been on the 'streets' for 67 days, says he is so acclimated to the outdoors now, he gets too uncomfortable indoors as he overheats and since he has no guarantee of a shelter each night, it is better to stay on the street. Unemployment only pays him $167 a month. 

One tells me he stays in the 'spotlight' of the public's eye to continue to bring awareness that the homeless are out there and has done so for 35 years. In the meantime, he has started soup kitchens and gotten many different cities to start homeless shelters. None of them do drugs (and I think I believe them as they were very candid with me), although one admitted he is a recovering narcotics addict. 

 

Since last May, we have had 192 people go through our town as being homeless, whether it was temporary or ongoing.  I have actually been trying to find a homeless person for the last 6 months for my work and failed. There is more than you see, even if you are looking for them. Some stay hidden as if they are found, they become victims. Some of the hidden homeless are 'couch surfers'. Such as those people who are going through a martial breakup and have to go stay with friends or family. They just happen to be the homeless with resources. The people who are in the shelter or on the street tend to be people without other available resources such as a bed at a family member's home. 

 

In talking to these three men who are currently homeless, they are real people with intelligence, who had dreams and at least two of them would like to get out of the situation they are currently in. "'There but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford," as the original saying goes.  Job loss. Divorce. Foreclosure. All it takes is one step off the path for whatever reason, and in a blink of an eye, you and I could find ourselves homeless one day as well.